


Casual Affair

by panicparade



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Movie, Angst and Humor, Avengers!AU, Loki Feels, Loki!Draco, M/M, Tony!Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-08
Packaged: 2018-02-03 22:45:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1758837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panicparade/pseuds/panicparade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of them tried to take over the world. The other was almost killed in that same invasion. There’s no reason it should work. And yet, what started out a casual affair might end up going anywhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Casual Affair

**Author's Note:**

> This submission is part of HD Smoochfest on Livejournal. The theme this year is Media Remix, which invited participants to "remix" the story from a Book, Movie, Television Show. The author/artist will be revealed at the end of the fest.
> 
> This was created for Prompt Number: M69  
> Original Work Name: The Avengers
> 
> Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. The Avengers is owned by Marvel and Paramount Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> The prompt asked for a scene between Harry and Draco. This is 15k words of that scene. I can’t thank the prompter enough for letting me have my way with that wonderful prompt! I really do hope this makes up for not getting art like you’d wanted. I also send many hugs towards E for helping me make this readable. Seriously, the first draft was horrible. Thank you for being so awesome and so patient with me. All remaining mistakes in the fic are mine. This fic wouldn’t be there if not for RDJ and Tom Hiddleston for making millions of girls believe in Tony/Loki. We love you guys. Title is a song by Panic! at the Disco.

Harry woke up because of the cold. He’d fallen asleep wrapped in a layer of warmth, both from the blankets piled over their already overheated bodies, and Draco’s body curved into his. It was his favorite way of falling asleep. Sometime during the night he’d thrown the blankets off, which was usually okay because Draco was there to keep him warm.

Except right now, Draco was missing from the bed and Harry was freezing.

“Sirius?” Harry asked as he looked for his dressing gown and debated wearing socks. At least they’d dressed before falling asleep this time.  Being walked in on by Neville one early morning while they’d been waking each other up had been traumatizing for everyone involved. Most of all Neville, who had blushed for a week anytime he saw either of them till Draco got fed up and had a talk with him. Harry still didn’t know what exactly it was that Draco had said, but Neville seemed a lot more comfortable around them now.

“He’s on the roof, Sir,” the AI replied, increasing the temperature before Harry could ask him. He sighed and padded down the hallway to the stairs. “Thanks Sirius, what would I do without you?”

Sirius took a minute to reply, his accent as perfect as ever, “Let’s hope you never have to find out.”

The roof was freezing, making Harry grateful he’d thought of bringing up an extra sweater for Draco, who was dressed in just his pajamas. He made sure to make enough noise to alert Draco to his presence; even after almost four years, Draco hated that fact that he was so defenceless now. The one time Harry had tried to surprise Draco, he’d ended up pushed against the wall; they’d stayed like that for quite some time as Draco had come to the terms with the fact that he didn’t have magic to call upon any more.

“Hey you,” Harry whispered, wrapping the sweater around Draco. “I was thinking we should get a room made up here so you can enjoy the view from bed and I can stay warm.”

Draco shook his head and leaned back to rest against Harry. “That'd be two more floors you’d have to cross to get to the lab.”

Harry tightened his hold and nuzzled Draco’s neck, enjoying the sight of New York laid out before them.

“Violet asked me to tell her a bedtime story today,” Draco said, his voice low enough that Harry had to strain to hear him.

He smiled, Violet was Pansy and Bill’s adorable little four year old who loved her Uncle Draco. “Did you tell her one?” Harry shivered slightly in the cold. He wondered if he could ask Sirius to send Dobby with an extra sweater. Then he remembered the last time he’d asked Dobby to hand him a piece of clothing. His t-shirt would never be the same again, with two gaping tears shaped suspiciously like robot hands the same size as Dobby’s.

 Draco twisted himself out of Harry’s embrace and started walking back towards the stairs while Harry suppressed his sigh of relief and followed him. It was only once they were back in the warm bed that Draco replied, “Of course I did. God only knows what sort of fairytales you have here on earth; she needs to be aware of her heritage.”

Harry let go of the retort forming his lips about Asgard and its heritage; ever since Draco had come clean about his punishment, he’d found he favored that realm even less. For a year, his attitude towards Pansy had been just as negative till she’d cornered Harry and made sure he knew that she had no had in Draco’s punishment.

“What story did you tell her?” Harry asked, making sure his toes were covered by the blanket.

When Draco didn’t answer instantly, Harry looked up to see the red creeping on Draco’s cheeks, made even more visible by the moonlight shining through the window. He raised his hand to check if the skin was as warm as it looked but Draco batted it away while mumbling something into the blanket.

“I’m sorry, what?” He was excited to hear what it was that was making Draco, who he felt should be renamed as God of Poise rather than of Mischief, blush and hide his face.

“How Iron Man seduced a God.”

Harry cocked an eyebrow, confused, before he realized that was Draco’s answer. He couldn’t stop the smile from taking over his face, “I didn’t know that was a part of Asgardian heritage! Do they also have ballads about that great feat?”

Draco was still under the blanket and refusing to look at Harry so he went on, “Do they have tapestries and statues about this? I wonder how tall they’ve made me, we are the same height but in the suit I do look taller. Do you think they have picture of me in the suit?”

Finally Draco pulled the blanket down; his hair mused and face red from the heat, “I think you’re full of it.”

“I distinctly remember _you_ being full of it last night,” Harry leered and made to pull Draco towards him, but Draco pushed his hands away and sat up straight. It amused Harry to no end on seeing Draco get worked up when Harry brought up their sex life, apparently Norse God’s didn’t really like talking about doing the nasty.

Before Draco could launch into his usual lecture Harry broke in. “Wait. Are you sure that story was appropriate for a four year old?”

“Do you _think_ I’d tell her all the details?” Draco’s look of shock was enough to make Harry feel bad for asking.

He settled for kissing Draco gently before getting comfortable in bed, “Well, now that I’m awake how about you tell me the story?”

“Not happening,” Draco shook his head, “you were there. I’m sure you remember everything.”

Harry yawned and fluffed his pillow, “Doesn’t mean I don’t like hearing about it. Go on, I did wake up because of you.”

He didn’t really think it would work, which was why he couldn’t stop the grin from taking over his face when Draco started, “There was a man called Harry Potter . . . “

“Wait, you have to start with once upon a time!” Harry interrupted, wondering if he could risk asking Dobby to get him a coffee; he wanted to hear this till the end.

Draco snorted, “I have to do no such thing. _My_ story, I can say it however I want.”

“That’s how all fairytales start!”

“And this isn’t a fairytale Harry,” Draco explained, in the same tone he used when telling Violet she was half a God; like it should be obvious.

Harry reached out to grab hold of Draco’s hand and kissed his wrist, rubbing his finger against the faint scars left behind from the chains. “Why not? You have superheroes _and_ happy endings. It has everything.”

He smiled up at Draco, who was staring at Harry with that look on his face, the one he wore when he knew Harry was trying to defend Draco from his own thoughts.

“ _Fine_. You win, Once upon a time there was a man named Harry . . . “

________*__________

Harry stretched his back, groaning as muscles that had been inert for too many hours were made to move again. He would have killed for an iced tea, but he knew the moment he made the mistake of leaving his lab and going up, Molly would catch hold of him and not let him get back to work till he’d eaten. Or slept for at least eight hours; he can’t remember the last time he ever slept that much.

“Sirius, what’s the status on the new pulsers?” He asked, leaning back in his chair till it creaked in protest.

“ETA is three days. Shall I pull up the welding lab feed for you, Sir?” The AI enquired.

Harry shook his head and rubbed his face with a hand, frowning as he felt the result of two days not shaving, “No, it’s fine. Make a note to remind them that I want it in red this time, not gold. I think it’ll look better.”

“Done, Sir, I think it’ll look as shiny and noticeable as ever.” Sirius stated, no hint of mockery in his tone, though Harry knew he wasn’t being serious. Not for the first time he wondered if he’d programmed an attitude into the codes and forgotten about it.

“Alright then.” He put on his welding glasses and beckoned Dobby closer, he still didn’t trust Kreacher with a blowtorch anywhere near him. That robot needed serious repairs. “We start in three, two, on-“

“Harry?”

He jumped back and narrowly avoided being burnt by the flame, “Cut it out,” he hissed at Dobby who lowered the blowtorch and nudged Harry’s foot in apology. “Yes, Molly?”

“Sorry to bother you, dear,” Harry snorted, she loved making Harry leave the lab, “but we need you up here.”

“I’m kind of in the middle of something,” he mumbled, going back to assess any damage the flame might have done. “Can’t Luna do it?”

“She can’t,” Luna’s voice issued from the speaker, “because this isn’t part of her job. And she has an art show to go to.”

Harry hmm-ed and punched in the numbers for a retry. “We’ve talked about your habit of referring to yourself in third person, yeah?”

“Oh, boo,” Harry could tell she was already getting bored of negotiating with him. “You really are needed up here Harry, it’s something you need to see.”

Her tone made Harry stop poking at the pieces on his worktop and pay attention.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

Ron and Bill were sitting at the kitchen table. They hadn’t been home in months, both off somewhere doing missions they couldn’t talk about. Some days Harry felt like complaining, he wanted to be off doing missions too. Then he’d remember the half dozen half-finished projects he had waiting for him in his lab and he couldn’t make himself leave. Not that Dumbledore seemed to be in a hurry to send him anywhere; apparently they needed someone in the city at all times.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Harry smiled as he walked over to them, accepting the hugs that were passed his way.

He quietly accepted a plate from Molly, there was never any point in saying no as she had powers of persuasion like no other, which was precisely why Dumbledore refused to let her retire.

“Just thought we should pop in and see the family, catch up on the latest office gossip, update our count on the number of labs Hermione’s destroyed,” Bill winked, ignoring Ron’s muffled protest of _Oii! That’s my girlfriend you’re talking about!_ through his mouthful of food.

Harry had never really said it out loud, but he missed having Ron around. Even before the mission that changed it all, they’d developed something resembling a friendship. Whenever Ron wasn’t away on a mission or Harry wasn’t busy running the company, they would find time to catch up and hang out.

And then Draco had happened.

Ron had taken a leave of absence for a month after that, refusing all orders to have tests done to determine what damage being under the spell might have caused. He’d only been back a month before Dumbledore he sent him back in the field, some mission in Istanbul. Hermione was the only one who had gotten through to him, but even they hadn’t been able to spend much time together with the amount of research she was putting into controlling her _other side_.  

Harry waited till everyone had finished eating. “So, is anyone planning on telling me what’s going on?”

He saw Molly glance at Ron before she said, “Dumbledore’s coming. He has some news.”

“Okay,” Harry nodded, praying this was going somewhere important, “that’s kind of what he does. Is there anything special about the news?”

Before Molly could answer, Sirius announced, “Director Dumbledore is heading up, Sir.” There was a loud crash of thunder, “And there seems to be someone on the roof.”

Harry grinned, though his reaction was nothing compared to Bill, who puffed up his chest and tried to adopt a nonchalant pose. As they waited for the two visitors to arrive, there was an undercurrent of tension in the room. The last time they’d all been together, the end of their planet was looming on the horizon. Looking at everyone’s face, Harry could tell they were all hoping like he was that nothing so drastic was about to be announced.

Ron looked worse for wear, his hands clenched on his coffee mug tight enough to turn his knuckles white. His ability to trust anyone, even humans, was already pretty low to start with, but after the incident he looked at everything with a shade of doubt. This was why when the door opened he was almost on his feet till he saw it was Hermione and he slumped back down. She spared a smile for everyone else in the room but her attention was only on Ron, who wasn’t looking as tense anymore. She hurried to hug him before taking her seat.

There was the sound of the lift opening, prompting everyone to get alert. When Dumbledore walked in, he wasn’t alone.

Pansy looked tired, her hair a mess and the cape in tatters, but there was a determined look to her eyes. She was here on a mission and a part of Harry was excited. He’d been bored ever since the doctors, and Hermione, had declared him fit to be a part of active duty again. Except, the bad guys all seemed to be lying low these days and he’d never been more bored.

“Avengers,” Dumbledore nodded, helping himself to the coffee Molly offered, “Oh, good everyone’s here already. Pansy has something to say to all of you.”

“Neville’s not here,” Hermione pointed out, making Harry realise that indeed, Neville was missing.

Dumbledore waited till he and Pansy were seated at the table before he answered, “He is currently occupied elsewhere, and I trust one of you would brief him later?”

“My friends,” Pansy started, getting to the point like always, “I have come to tell you all that Draco’s punishment has been set by the All Father. It is harsh,” she swallowed, trying to compose herself and for the first time Harry wondered what punishment on Asgard really meant, “but keeping in mind his crimes against Midgard and your people the All Father feels it is just.”

He heard Ron snort, clearly thinking that whatever punishment Asgard would mete out wouldn’t come near what he had planned for Draco; if they ever met again, which Harry thought was highly unlikely. Why would Draco ever be allowed on Earth again?

“The All Father felt it was time to teach my brother a lesson in humility and equality, which is why,” and here she paused, looking every inch the God she was as she levelled her gaze at every one of them, “he will be banished from Asgard once his punishment is served.”

Harry looked around him, taking in everyone’s nods and he thought they were done till Pansy continued, “He shall be banished to Midgard.”

“Hell no!”

“Dumbledore! Do you really think that’s wise?”

 “What the hell is Midgard?”

“That would be Earth, sir,” Sirius, helpful as ever, answered.

“Oh, okay, yeah, _that’s not happening_ ,” Harry said, looking directly at Pansy. “He’s unstable and a God. We can’t handle him going off the bend over and over again.”

Pansy stood then, the thunder outside roaring loud enough to be heard in the Tower. “My brother is _not_ unstable. He has been through things, seen things that would make you quiver in your beds. Do _not_ assume you know everything.”

“Then enlighten us,” Ron spoke up, looking far more composed than Harry thought he should be, “tell us  so that we also understand. Help me see why a mass murderer should be _allowed on our planet._ ” Ron was shouting by the end of it, only Hermione’s grip on his arm keeping him seated.

Pansy stared at him, “Tell me Agent Ron, should the deaths of the people you killed while under the spell of the sceptre be counted against you?”

Hermione’s outraged, “How dare you?” was muffled under the screech of Ron’s chair being pushed back with enough force that it fell down.

“I was not in control of myself, thanks to your brother. Do you know what it feels like to not be in control of your body? I was aware of it the entire time and yet I could do _nothing_.”

“Precisely,” Pansy declared, “how can Draco’s actions be held against him while he wasn’t in control of his mind?” She held up her hand before Ron could say something, “and that’s all I’m willing to say on the matter. What you need to know is that he was not in control of his actions, which is why I feel his punishment is more than he deserves. What it is, that does not concern anyone here, it’s a matter of Asgard but I can assure you that Draco will never be a threat to anyone again.”

“How can you guarantee that?” Molly asked, speaking up for the first time since Dumbledore arrived.

Pansy looked like she was ready to leave, already headed towards the door, “I know because he no longer has the tools to do so.”

Once she had left, with the accompanying clap of thunder, there was silence in the room as everyone tried to organise their thoughts.

Then Ron spoke up, “I’m telling you now Dumbledore, if I see him anywhere, _anywhere at all_ , I’ll kill him on sight.” With that he left, Hermione hurrying after him.

“Well Harry,” Dumbledore turned to him, “what do you think?”

Harry shook his head and stood, stretching his arms in preparation of going back to the lab, “He threw me out the window, destroyed half the city _and_ my house.  Oh, and he also tried to take over the world. What do _you_ think I’m thinking?”

(*)

“I’ll be there in an hour tops, Luna. Relax!” Harry shouted into his phone, rushing past the midday crowd of people walking on the streets.

He pushed past someone carrying two dogs and almost ran into someone else who was carrying more coffees than human hands were made to handle. Harry cursed and wondered whether he could risk slipping away and asking Sirius to send the Mach 3. Out of nowhere he’d been hit with the craving for a chocolate milkshake. Not just any regular shake, but one filled with chocolate ice cream and chunks of chocolate, served with a mountain of whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles on top. It had taken him less than a minute to search the internet for the best place in town, and finding it not far from the Tower he had decided to just walk there.

Big mistake.

He hadn’t walked down the streets of the city in years and he’d forgotten how busy it could get this time of day. Harry had almost given up when he saw the sign for the café up ahead, sprinting till he reached his destination. The cool blast of air that hit him on opening the doors was a welcome relief, as was the smell of chocolate that lingered in the air.

He smiled at a passing waitress and headed for the counter, thinking he might as well have two while he was there.

Reaching the counter, he tapped his knuckles on it, trying to get the attention of one of the people there.

That was when he felt the earth tilt off its axis.

“That’s for table 4, Draco.”

Coming towards him, busy carrying a tray of food, was none other than Draco. Harry kept staring, trying to convince himself that it was someone else.

Before he could reach the counter, and come face to face with Harry, Draco turned. Harry ordered his milkshakes and waited, all the while watching Draco out of the corner of his eye, almost waiting for him to do something. Harry couldn’t believe this was the same guy who’d thrown him out the window a year ago. Or who’d been repeatedly smashed into the floor by Hermione and had survived without a scratch. He looked so normal now, like someone Harry might pass on the street and forget about the next minute.

Harry took his shakes and left in a hurry; he was scared that being in the same place with Harry might tempt Draco to take over the world again. They hadn’t made eye contact even once; Harry didn’t think Draco had even seen him there.

He strolled through the crowd towards the tower, enjoying his shake, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. The tension he’d felt on seeing Draco started to fade, giving way to confusion.

“Huh, I thought it would be more dramatic than that.” He said out loud, walking back towards the Tower, enjoying the chocolate milkshake that had led to this.

(*)

He went back a week later.

In his defence, Harry really was craving chocolate again. That didn’t explain why he hadn’t yet told anyone about seeing Draco. When Sirius asked him about it, he said maybe he’d been mistaken and it wasn’t really Draco he’d seen that day but someone who just looked a lot like him. This was why he needed to go back and make sure if it really was Draco or not. If it was, then he’d report the incident to Dumbledore and forget all about it.

After the whole _almost dying in space_ incident, Harry didn’t like to unnecessary risks. When he said it out loud he could have sworn Sirius laughed at him, if artificial intelligences could laugh.

Unlike last time though, he had no trouble finding the café; he might have spent a few hours staring at its location on his GPS but no one was to know. He stood outside the windows, trying to appear inconspicuous while peering inside to see if Draco was there. Five minutes later all he knew for sure was that the lady at table five was stealing sugar packets. Taking in a deep breath and reminding himself that he was Iron Man a.k.a Vanquisher of Evil, Harry squared his shoulders and walked inside, only to run into someone and have an entire ice cream sundae upturned on his t-shirt.

“I’m so sorry sir, he’s a new employee,” the manager rushed forward with paper towels. “Don’t worry Mr. Potter, he’ll be fired immediately.”

Harry looked up to insist on that when he saw who exactly the clumsy employee was, Draco was staring back at him with wide eyes. There was fear there and it made Harry feel powerful to know that someone who’d once thought Harry useless enough to be thrown out of a window was now scared of him. That is, until the fear turned into fury and Draco stormed past him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The manager shouted as the door banged behind Draco’s exit.

Harry stuffed a few dollars into the man’s hand and rushed out behind Draco, “He’s just taking a break; that money’s for whatever he’ll be paid for the next hour and the sundae. Keep the change.”

There was a mad rush outside, people walking in all directions and for a minute Harry thought he’d lost Draco.

“Sirius?” Harry asked, using his phone.

“He’s headed towards the subway sir, around the next corner.”

“Right, thanks.” Harry rushed off in that direction, pushing people to the side.

It was as he was almost to the station that Harry saw a head of a silver blond hair trying to get past the incoming foot traffic. Sprinting ahead, Harry caught hold of Draco’s sleeve and pulled him back, hissing in his ear, “If you know what’s good for you Draco, you’ll stop running. “

Harry watched all the energy leave Draco, making him fall limp, his head hanging down. For a minute, Harry was struck dumb at Draco giving in so easily; this wasn’t the same guy who’d almost destroyed their planet.

“Alright,” Harry said awkwardly, pulling him to the side, “we’re going to go back to the café and then we’re going to have a simple conversation.”

He walked back towards the café keeping one hand on Draco’s arm, though he was walking alongside him with his head still down. Harry found it more than a bit disconcerting, but the middle of the street was no place to discuss this. Once they reached the café, Harry waved the manager away as he started to come towards them. He waited till Draco was seated and his order had been taken before he started, “So, do you like working here?”

That was not what he’d wanted to ask, but starting with _Are you going to try and kill everyone again?_ didn’t really seem like a good start to a conversation.

Draco stared at him, his eyes narrowed and calculating. “Can we skip the pleasantries and just get to the part where you arrest me?”

“Why would I arrest you? Have you done something wrong?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow as he drank his milkshake.

Draco glared, “No. But it’s not like that matters to you Avengers, does it?”

Harry shrugged, “I’m not here to talk about the Avengers and what we do, I’m here to talk about you.” He was flailing a bit on the inside now, he had no plan of action. What will he do after Draco’s talked to him? Letting him go on his way wasn’t an option, it had taken Harry the drive over to realise that.

He did remember what Ron had threatened to do and in a way he felt it his duty to keep an eye on Draco.

“Are you the one they’ve put in charge of me?” Draco asked, slowly dragging his own milkshake towards him.

Harry nodded, figuring what the hell, it’s not like Draco was ever going to know that he was here on his own, “Yeah, so you should thank your stars because it could have been Ron and he is _not_ happy with you.”

“And what about you?” Draco asked, leaning back in his chair, the royal attitude shining through his bleak façade.

Harry was confused, “What about me?”

“Are _you_ happy with me?” Draco elaborated, smirking a little at the look on Harry’s face.

“You pushed me out a window, tried to use mind control on me _and_ I almost died trying to save the world from you, so how about you tell me if I should be happy with you?” Harry slammed his fist on the table, making the empty glasses shake, “Listen closely Draco, because I will not be repeating this. I’m here only because no one else could be trusted to not kill you on the spot, so you should be feeling very grateful right now. Do not antagonise me because I will not hesitate to give up this assignment. Your life means nothing to me, are we clear?”

He didn’t wait for Draco’s reply before he stood and threw some money on the table, “You’ll continue working here and living your life as you live it but I will be watching. One toe out of line, you so much as push somebody, and I will make sure you pay for it. And I guarantee that will be worse than anything Asgard did to you.”

Harry nodded to the manager and left, seething at the gall of Draco trying to act like this was joke. It was only when he was outside that Harry realised Draco had murmured, “I doubt you can make me suffer more than I already have,” as he was leaving.

(*)

He stayed away for almost two months, leaving Sirius to keep an eye on Draco. There was file on Draco added to his systems where his daily comings and goings were recorded. Harry would look over them only if Sirius mentioned there was something out of the ordinary. Piece by piece Harry was able to form a basic idea of Draco’s routine.

He lived in a small apartment not far from where he worked, and every evening he went to the library where he’d spend at least three hours. He did his grocery shopping every Wednesday and laundry every Friday. Draco had a schedule and he liked to stick to it, making it easier for Harry to keep an eye on him.

The bad guys seemed to be acting up again which meant Harry had less time to get bored and more time to kick some ass, he’d been flying around the city so much he’d forgotten what it was like to stay on the ground for more than a few hours at a time.  

It was on a Saturday night that Draco’s routine was broken for the first time in two months.

Harry had been getting ready to kick Neville’s ass in Call of Duty when Sirius alerted him; he was pretty sure Neville saw through his excuse, but Harry didn’t have time to worry about that. Draco was finally up to something and now Harry would have valid reason to tell the others about him.

Sometimes he thought Dumbledore suspected something, his eyes would linger on Harry when the topic of Draco was brought up, but as long as Dumbledore never said anything, Harry was going to keep quiet. At least till he caught Draco red handed, which he had a chance to do now.

He couldn’t just take off in the suit; with Neville and Molly in the living room, they would definitely see him flying off. He grabbed the keys to the car closest to him, relying on Sirius for directions. It was when he arrived that Harry realised where they were, and he couldn’t help but the check the directions himself in case Sirius had made a mistake. Which was highly improbable, but he’d rather believe that than think Draco, the _crazy God_ Draco, would come to a nightclub on a Saturday night. And not just any nightclub, no, but the kind Harry came to when he wanted to ensure he wouldn’t be going home alone that night.

Handing his keys to the valet Harry cursed; he really wasn’t dressed for this place, but being Harry Potter had its benefits. As soon as the valet recognised him, he was escorted inside in a flurry of opening doors and people gushing, “Mr. Potter, it’s been too long!”

Being a Saturday night, the place was filled to the brim, making it even more difficult for Harry to find Draco. He settled for getting a drink and walking around the place, checking in every booth. A part of him was convinced Draco was up to something nefarious, while another part, which sounded a lot like Neville, was telling him to go home. Draco could go to a nightclub and pick up girls, or boys, if he wanted to.

Except Harry didn’t think they did this kind of thing in Asgard. Whenever they would ask Pansy, or Hermione would ask because the rest were too scared to, she was very vague about the drinking and sleeping habits of Gods. Harry didn’t think Draco had in him.

He’d just about finished a round of the club, thanking his lucky stars that this place wasn’t the kind to have back rooms, when Harry saw him. Draco was leaning against the wall with his hip cocked and a drink in hand, smiling and talking to someone like he did this all the time.

Harry watched the other man lean in and say something in Draco’s ear that made him laugh, his eyes shining in the dim lights of the club.  Harry moved without thinking, one minute he was standing at a distance, watching Draco laugh and talk to someone and the next he was sliding his arm around Draco’s waist, “I was wondering where you slipped off to!” Harry said to Draco, ignoring the other man completely.

“Wh-what?” Draco turned, glaring at Harry.

Harry smiled back, tightening him arm a little so Draco got the message, “I was looking for you! I think it’s time to say goodbye now, we need to leave.” And with that he pulled Draco through the crowd, scowling as the other man called out, “Call me!”

It was only once they were out the door and near the car park that Draco pushed him away, his face twisted in a scowl.

“What is wrong with you? I wasn’t doing anything!” Draco snarled, running his hand through his hair.

Harry frowned and tried to explain what had been happening, “Draco, that man was flirting with you.”

“Yes! I was aware of that!” Draco spat out, clenching his fingers in his jacket as if stopping himself from hitting Harry.

“You don’t understand,” Harry explained calmly, “here on earth, in clubs like this flirting generally means going back home with that person. And, you know, doing stuff.”

Draco stared at him, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t understand what Harry was saying so he tried again, “Draco, that man, he wanted to take you home with him.”

“I know that! Why do you think I was flirting back to him? Oh lord, are all mortals this slow!” Draco whined, slumping against a parked car.

“Wait, what?” Harry was confused; Draco knew what was happening which meant, “You wanted to go home with him!”

“Congratulations Potter, there’s that hint of genius I’ve heard so much about!" Draco mock clapped and turned to go back inside.

Harry ran after him, blocking his way, “How can you just home with someone like that? Is that what they do on Asgard?”

“No Potter,” Draco moved him to the side, “that’s what they do on Earth. And I’m adapting. Like you people say, when in Paris, do like Paris. And who are you to talk, I’ve heard about you.”

Harry scowled at Draco’s reference to him, pushing down thoughts of the model he’d taken home a week ago, “It’s when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” He shouted at Draco’s retreating back; adapting indeed.

(*)

Draco’s schedule had a new addition, one that Harry was not happy about. Mostly because he just wanted to catch Draco doing something wrong so that he could tell everyone about him. Also because he was messing with Harry’s schedule by taking over all his favourite Saturday night haunts, and that just wasn’t done. He didn’t stick to one club, Draco changed every two or three weeks and every time Sirius would alert him all Harry could do was grit his teeth and ignore it. Having sex wasn’t a crime, as Harry knew well enough. If it was, he’d be one of the first people in jail.

He just needed Draco to do something wrong so he could bring him in. But for now, all Draco was doing was having one night stands all over the city while Harry was off being Iron Man. Could the bad guys not take a break? This was insane! They’d been fighting evil forces the entire week and all Harry wanted was to get drunk and party. As soon as they got back to the towers after fighting a mad scientist who’d had the bright idea of creating gigantic slugs that shot out fire through their ass of all things, Harry headed for his room to wash all the slime off.

Then he headed for his favourite Saturday spot. In hindsight, maybe he should have asked Sirius first where Draco was headed that night but he was so focussed on the partying aspect that he forgot all about it.

Big Mistake.

The night was like any other, flaming shots, body shots, shots while dancing – the usual. What wasn’t usual though was the way Harry couldn’t keep his eyes off the man dancing in the middle of the dance floor, his back to Harry. The way he moved should have been made a punishable offence, and each shake and twist of those hips made Harry want to grab on and never let go. By the time _sex on legs_ started grinding on the person in front of him, Harry was ready to leap in.

Then the man turned.

If Harry had been sober, he would have turned away and maybe gone to another club.

If Harry had been sober, he would maybe have left with one of the many admirers already surrounding him.

 If Harry had been sober, he wouldn’t have gone and started dancing with Draco.  

Draco didn’t turn; he just leaned a little into Harry and moved to the music, hips swaying with the beat. Harry held onto them, his fingers digging in, making Draco sigh. He could already feel his body get affected by the way they were moving together, Draco apparently forgetting about everyone else around him. As Harry dug his fingers in harder, he felt Draco shudder and grind back against him, creating a delicious friction that made Harry moan, uncaring of where they were and the people around them.

He could already feel the stress of the day leaving his body as he lost himself in the movements, the rising tide of lust coursing through his veins, and he let it take over, let it control his body till he all he could feel was Draco moving against him and bringing him closer and closer to the edge.

He savoured the feeling of falling over, his hips thrusting against Draco’s till he felt like he couldn’t move anymore. But Harry Potter was not known to be a selfish lover and he had no intention of leaving Draco hanging. He turned Draco around, wrapping his arm around and pulling him into a kiss before Draco could see who it was. There was no need for both of them to regret this later.

He slid his other arm down Draco’s body, revelling in the tiny twitches and thrusts that were making Draco whine for contact. When finally his palm closed around Draco, the resulting moan made Harry smirk; he was feeling exhilarated with the thought of controlling Draco. All that power and Harry was making him whine, almost beg for release.

It didn’t take long before Draco was thrusting in earnest, his face tucked in Harry’s neck as he came closer to release, Harry’s hand unrelenting. When Draco finally stopped moving and just slumped against Harry, he moved his arms around him, moving the two of them to the music. Harry was getting restless now, he needed to leave. He needed to go home and think about the implications of what he’d just done.

As he started squirming to get out of Draco’s embrace, he snapped, “Would you stop moving for a minute, Potter!”

Harry froze; Draco wasn’t supposed to know it was him. Harry should have been a faceless, albeit awesome, dance floor fuck.

He moved Draco’s arm and hurried off the dance floor; he needed to leave before he did something stupid. Like maybe take Draco home.

On his way out, he ran into a journalist he’d once fucked in his car, she’d been eyeing him all night. He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him. He needed something to override his memory of the last thirty minutes.

(*)

“Harry?”

He looked up from his sandwich, courtesy of Molly, to see Neville hovering in the doorway, “Can we talk for a minute?”

“Sure big guy, grab a seat,” Harry gestured with his hand, wondering what had gotten Neville so worked up. The last time this had happened was when he’d realised it was okay for guys to like guys.

Neville hesitated, taking in a deep breath, “I wanted to know what’s bothering you. For the past few days you’ve seemed tense. I thought I was the only one who noticed, but even Ron brought it up yesterday.”

“So you’ve been discussing me behind my back?” Harry snapped, getting up from his seat. He didn’t want to have this conversation with anyone, least of all with Neville.

Neville tried adopting a calm tone, which only served to aggravate Harry further, he wasn’t _a child_ , “We’re a team, Harry, and if there’s something bothering you, we can help, we can –“

“– you can and you will do nothing,” Harry said clearly. “There’s nothing bothering me and I don’t need your help.”

He stormed out of the kitchen, deciding he needed a break from the house. Maybe he should just stay in a hotel for some time, away from everyone in the Tower. That made him even angrier because it was _his_ house and _his_ lab and _his_ Sirius.

It took him a while to realise he wasn’t walking anymore and for a minute he was disoriented, wondering how he got here; till he realised where here was. He was back in front of the cafe, standing in front of the window which gave him a perfect view of Draco waving at him from the inside.

The day just kept getting better and better.

He cursed and walked in, figuring he might as well get a milkshake as long as he was here. What he didn’t count on was getting a side of Draco with it when the man, God, in question came and sat in front of him.

“What do you want?” Harry snapped, too tired for small talk. The last few days had been exhausting given how he couldn’t even sleep without dreaming of Draco. The obvious solution to that was to stop sleeping at all.

Draco tsk-ed, “My my, is that how you talk to all your partners?”

“We are _not_ partners, we are _nothing_! You are a criminal and I’m the superhero here to make sure you don’t try to kill everyone. It was a drunken mistake and we will forget about it. I already have,” Harry snarled, then asked something that had been bothering him for days, “how did you know it was me?”

Draco chuckled, stealing a sip from Harry’s shake, “There’s only person I know who has metal sticking out of his chest, it’s kind of hard to miss when you’re dancing together.”

Harry wanted to bang his head against the wall, of course! Just because Draco couldn’t see him didn’t mean he couldn’t feel the arc reactor. For the first time in a long time Harry hated the thing.

“Right, well, we won’t be talking about it anymore,” Harry said with determination, he was done.

Draco sighed, looking put upon, “And here I was, thinking we could do it again.”

“ _What_?” Harry spat out his mouthful of milkshake, thankfully missing Draco, who would likely have killed him in a second if that happened.

“You heard me,” Draco shrugged, “I quite enjoyed myself that night and I wouldn’t be averse to doing it again. It’s a lot more convenient than going out every week and finding someone new. I don’t know how you people do it.”

“We get into relationships,” Harry explained, trying to suppress his shudder at the thought.

Draco scowled, “I’ve heard about that, but from what I can tell they involve emotions and,” Draco looked revolted, “love. No, I really don’t want all that.” Draco shook his head to reinforce his point.

Harry tried to beat down the part of his brain that was saying it sounded like a brilliant idea, “There are those kinds of relationships also, I’m sure you can find someone.”

“Why should I find someone? I already have you,” Draco proclaimed with a flourish, smiling like he’d solved a great problem.

“You _don’t_ have me, we’re not doing this and it’s a bad idea all around.”

“ _Why not_? Think of how exciting it would be, keeping it a secret from the world, I know you can’t tell your Avenger friends.” Draco smiled, growing more excited by the second; Harry wondered if that’s how Draco looked while plotting evil.

The part of him that agreed with Draco was getting louder and for the first time he wondered why he was resisting it. He _did_ have a good time with Draco at the club and he _was_ tired of picking up random people. Besides, Draco was hot and Harry certainly didn’t have a problem wanking to him every day. He looked up to see Draco staring at him, his eyes bright with the prospect of doing something sneaky and Harry figured what the hell, he might as well jump in headfirst.

“We’ll meet at your house?”

(*)

Harry cancelled their first meeting. He hadn’t wanted to, in fact he’d been waiting for it ever since Draco had suggested the date the week before, but just as he’d been leaving Ron had invited him to a game of bowling. Apparently everyone was going and Harry had felt it would be awkward if he was the only one to say no. Also, a part of him was convinced that if he refused, they’d all figure out it was because of Draco and he’d be in trouble. Ignoring the fact that no one besides him knew that Draco was in New York.

A few days after Neville’s attempt at conversation, and subsequent blowout, Molly had cornered him outside his lab. She hadn’t been as straightforward as Neville had been but Harry could tell she was digging for information. He’d barely managed to slip in through the door before she managed to guilt trip him into spilling the beans about Draco.

Molly was certainly a woman of many talents.

Before leaving with the others, Harry had made sure to tell Sirius to send Draco a message to inform him about the change in plans. A part of Harry was glad he wasn’t sending the message, he was pretty sure an angry Draco was still someone he should be careful of. Draco’s reply had come just before they’d started playing, a simple – _“Now I’ll just have to go out and find someone else.”_

Harry had the lowest score that night.

And now here he was, outside the café again with a small gift in his hand as a token of apology, though what it really meant was _I’m sorry I ditched you, can we hook up next week?_

He had walked in like he owned the place, only to find Draco nowhere inside.

“Hey, do you know where Draco is?” He’d asked a passing waiter, who clearly recognised him if his widening eyes and start struck expression was any indication.

“Mr. Potter, Sir,” the waiter exclaimed, drawing the attention of almost everyone there, “such an honour to see you here. Please grab a seat; I’ll be right with you.”

Harry shook his head, irritated at not getting a straight answer, “That’s okay; I’m not here to sit. Where is Draco?”

“It’s his day off sir, but don’t worry –“

Harry walked out the cafe, heading towards Draco’s flat. He didn’t have anything planned for the day unless someone decided to attack the city, which he was praying didn’t happen.

On reaching the building Harry looked around, making sure he was at the right place. It certainly didn’t look as big as it did in the photos Sirius had shown him. Nor did it look even half as clean. Entering the building wasn’t a problem, nor was finding Draco’s house; Harry was having trouble deciding what he should say to Draco when he opened the door.

“Hi, I was just in the neighbourhood. . .”

“So, fancy a fuck?”

“I lost the bowling tournament that day because I couldn’t stop thinking about you naked.”

The decision was taken out of his hands when Draco opened the door, dressed in pyjamas and holding a garbage bag, while Harry stood with one arm raised, ready to knock.

“Potter?” Draco stared, as if he wasn’t sure if Harry was really there or not.

Harry smiled, “Hi. I thought we could take a rain check on our cancelled date. I mean, meeting or pre-planned session of mutual satisfaction. Definitely not a date.” He slipped in around Draco before he decided to lock Harry out for being a babbling idiot.

“But it’s not raining?” Draco asked, his eyes crinkled as he looked out the window. Harry thought he looked adorable with his hair all mussed up and the t-shirt slipping off one shoulder; but he wasn’t going to say that to Draco.

“Huh, what?” Harry had been busy looking around the house, or the two rooms that tried to act like a house. “No, a rain check means when you can’t do something at the time – oh, fuck it. It means I’m here to make up for last week.”

Draco rolled his eyes and left, muttering about _why you didn’t just say so_ , leaving Harry alone to snoop around and learn more about Draco. The house was warm, with basic furniture placed here and there. Harry could see attempts at making it look more homely, like that potted plant in the corner, the painting against the wall and the bright green curtains on the windows; all in all it looked quite cosy.

He’d just opened the fridge when Draco came back in, smiling and shaking his head.

“What’s got you so happy?” Harry asked, quickly turning around and slamming the door shut behind him.

Draco shook his head, still smiling, “Mrs. Norris is such a sweetheart, she lives down the hallway, always invites me over for tea. She had this adorable little kitten called Filch.”

Harry tried to balance his thoughts of Draco as a planet destroying God to a kitten loving, friendly neighbour.

“Are you done going through my things?” Draco asked “I’m just curious as to how to you live, this must be pretty different from Asgard,” Harry grumbled.

He didn’t miss the way Draco’s expression turned carefully blank when he mentioned Asgard, and he filed that information away for future use.

Draco moved to the living room, falling onto the only chair in the room, “Yes well, I’m not on Asgard anymore, am I?”

“Whoa, you really like chocolate,” Harry deftly changed the subject, he needed Draco relaxed and not moody if they were going to make up for lost time.

Draco hummed and stretched his legs, making the pyjama’s ride low, exposing a strip of skin below the t-shirt; Harry wanted to bite and mark those hip bones. He might have been staring for too long because when he looked up Draco was looking at him with a smirk on his face. Harry watched as Draco lifted the shirt up higher; showing more of his pale, lean body. By the time the shirt was up to his neck, Harry was transfixed by the image in front of him.

When Draco finally removed the shirt in one smooth move Harry couldn’t just stand and watch any longer.

He moved towards the chair, toeing off his shoes and removing his own shirt on the way. Draco stood as he reached for Harry, pulling him into a kiss as he directed Harry towards the bedroom. Harry didn’t care where they were going, his entire being focussed on running his hands over Draco’s body; when his fingers slipped under the waistband and caressed the smooth curves beneath, Draco’s moan made Harry’s fingers tighten, wanting to leave bruises. Like before, he felt a kind of satisfaction, having all that power over the man who had once thought himself above all others. He wanted to mark, leave his image etched in Draco’s skin so that he knew that Harry wasn’t just some mortal he used for his satisfaction; he wanted to be remembered as the one who showed Draco the way they do it on earth.  

As they fell on the bed, Draco kissing Harry as he pushed his pyjamas off, Harry growled in Draco’s ear, making Draco shiver, “Get ready for the ride of your life.”

(*)

 Harry woke up wrapped around something warm, he sighed and wrapped his arms tighter, enjoying the feeling. That was when the thing he was wrapped around decided to speak up, “Stop choking me Potter!”

Harry jerked back, cursing as he realised he’d fallen asleep last night; staying that night wasn’t something Harry made a point of doing with any of his partners. He yawned and stretched, relishing the burn in his limbs, “I’ll leave in a minute.”

He heard the covers rustle and then Draco was climbing on top of him, his hands planted next to Harry’s head on the pillow, “As long as you’re here, why not make it a fun morning?” With that Draco moved down his body till he was under the covers and all Harry could feel were Draco’s hands running up his thighs and his warm breath making Harry twitch.

By the time Harry left an hour later, he was grinning like crazy and already making plans for the next time they could meet.

(*)

Draco’s weekly routine had yet another change; every Tuesday was marked for Harry. That was one fixed day in the week when they would met regardless of how tired or backed up with work they were. Not that they only met just once in the week, every time Harry left Draco’s house he felt more and more like walking back inside. Leaving was getting harder by the day.

Instead of focussing on such dangerous thoughts, Harry turned his energies elsewhere. The attacks on the city were becoming a regular fixture now; apparently the bad guys had decided they’d had a long enough break and were making up for lost time. Neville grew quieter with every attack as he tried to figure out a reason for their almost monthly occurrence while Hermione rarely left her lab, growing more frustrated as she came no closer to finding a trigger to bring the angry one out.

Amidst all the tension and tempers, Harry found solace in Draco’s modest apartment. He made it a point to bring over a gift every time he visited, though it was mostly knick knacks that Draco could place around the house, like a sun catcher that cast red and blue shadows over the room as they fucked on the chair, or the rug which Draco had protested a lot over, placed in front of the only window that got sunlight in the entire apartment.

They met all over during the week too. Mostly Harry would ambush Draco at work and they’d have quick round in the employees toilet or they’d meet at the club on Saturday where Draco would tease Harry from afar, dancing like he owned the floor and moving against strangers till all Harry could do was drag Draco to his car and fuck him on the back seat.

He knew they were treading on dangerous territory by spending so much time together but he’d always push down those doubts by reminding himself that they were just having fun. There were no feelings attached and nothing to get worried about. No one would get hurt.

He couldn’t tell when the dynamic changed and they went from just fucking to spending the night talking, but he can tell that it was around the time they’d gone an entire week without meeting, something that hadn’t happened in the three months since they’d started.  

They hadn’t been able to meet the entire week, with Harry being called in to deal with giant robots that were half horse, half eagle and Draco having to take on extra shifts at work. Texting or talking on the phone wasn’t something they did so Harry didn’t consider it out of ordinary when Draco didn’t reply to his text. What got him worried though was when Sirius informed him that Draco hadn’t been to work in two days. Draco never missed work; he made it a point to always be on time and had been employee of the month twice in a row.

This was why Harry decided to ditch the latest meeting called by Dumbledore to discuss whether they were facing a foe bigger than they had thought. Harry didn’t care either way; they could come one by one or in a large group, the Avengers would still annihilate them. He could see the disapproval in Hermione’s eyes as he left the conference room after getting Sirius’s message.

The entire car ride to Draco’s house Harry tried to keep the rising feeling of trepidation at bay, Draco had changed and he’d seen it himself. But underneath all his optimism was the feeling that he’d been played, Draco was still and would always remain a mastermind who’d once been capable of taking over a planet without a second thought. Harry swallowed and moved the car faster, winding through city traffic and cursing himself for not getting the suit.

He’d rushed up the stairs to Draco’s apartment but upon reaching the door he’d hesitated, trying to get his thoughts under control. Harry opened the door slowly, praying it wouldn’t make any sound. His took a deep breath and walked in, preparing to see the house bare again, maybe with a note stuck somewhere that said, “ _Got you, Potter!”_

His heart sank on seeing the living room and kitchen empty, Draco’s clothes strewn over the floor like always and an empty cup next to the rug. He walked through the apartment, looking at all the things he’d managed to sneak in that had found their place here, his old t-shirt, a record player with Vinyls spread around it, and the coffee machine he’d brought on finding that Draco had never had coffee.

Harry headed for the bedroom, thinking he should maybe call the others now and inform them that Draco was on the loose. That was when he heard the weak cough from under the pile of blankets on the bed.

He didn’t let the hope rise, didn’t let it take hold lest it be snatched away from him in an instant. With cautious steps he walked to bed and pulled the blankets down slightly. He didn’t stop the sigh of relief that let loose after seeing the tousled blond hair spread on the pillow.

“Draco,” Harry breathed, running his fingers through the soft strands, relishing in the little shudder it produced and the way Draco was pushing into his touch, “what’s wrong?”

Slowly, Draco raised his head out of his blanket nest to look at Harry who understood was wrong in that one look, “I don’t know,” Draco whined, curling under the blanket while Harry continued stroking his hair, “I feel so horrible. Am I dying?” He looked up at Harry, his grey eyes pleading.

Harry shook his head, still impossibly happy at finding Draco here, “You’re not dying, Draco,” he said as he touched his hand to Draco’s forehead, confirming his suspicions, “you’re just sick.”

He winced in sympathy as Draco coughed; from what Harry could tell he had a really high fever, a sore throat and a runny nose – classic flu symptoms. Still, to be on the safe side he asked Sirius to send over his own physician.

“I can’t get sick, _I’m a god_!” Draco said petulantly, scrunching up his nose just as he sneezed.

Harry fixed his blankets, “Unfortunately it seems earth flu viruses don’t care. You have a cold Draco, how long have you been feeling like this?”

“I don’t know,” Draco tried to duck under the covers again, “I’ve been feeling tired for a week but two days ago it got so bad. My chest hurts, Harry.” He pulled Harry’s arm under the blankets with him, curling up against it, making Harry bend down till he was leaning over Draco.

“Aww,” Harry cooed, checking the time to see how long it would take for the doctor to get there. He felt helpless seeing Draco like this and not being able to do anything, “it’ll be alright, the doctor will be here soon.”

Not knowing what else to do he toed off his shoes and eased himself onto the bed, lifting the blankets to slide in along with Draco, who immediately clung to him. Harry wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer, rubbing Draco’s back as he shivered against him.

When the doctor came by an hour later, Harry almost hugged the man. Draco’s shivering had increased in that one hour and he had coughing fits that wracked through his frame, making him shake and rub his chest. Harry had almost reached his wits end; he’d been _this_ close to calling Hermione. Surprisingly Draco had been an ideal patient; he answered all of the doctor’s questions and even sat up from his blanket nest so that his breathing could be checked. The doctor confirmed it was the flu and let Harry with a list of medicines and instructions.

He gladly bustled around making tea and asking Sirius to get the medicines delivered. After feeling useless for the past hour, he was happy to be doing something finally to help Draco who, for his part, was enjoying getting to boss Harry around after the doctor told him to rest as much as he could and make someone else do all the work.  He made Harry fluff his pillows, bring him tea, close the curtains and then open them again. By the time Draco had taken his medicines and was starting to feel drowsy, Harry was exhausted.

“I lied,” Draco whispered. He was leaning against Harry’s chest, the light from the arc rector illuminating his face.

Harry had almost dozed off when he heard Draco, his words causing an ache to rise in Harry’s chest, his panic from earlier in the day resurfacing, “What are you talking about?”

“About being a god,” Draco rubbed his cheek against Harry’s shirt, smiling slightly; the cough meds were clearly doing their work but Harry needed to know what Draco was talking about.

He sat up straighter, ignoring Draco’s whine of protest, “What do you-- no leave the arc reactor alone-- what do you mean by that Draco?”

“Did I ever tell you that I really like this?” He tapped the arc reactor with one finger, smiling up at Harry, “it keeps the dark away. I don’t like the dark.”

Harry gently prised Draco's hand away from the arc reactor and held it in his, twining their fingers together, “Even I don’t like the dark. How did you lie about being a god?”

Draco buried his face in the crook of Harry’s neck, “I’m not a god. Not anymore. He took it all away, everything.”

Harry kept rubbing Draco’s back, one hand still around his as he waited for the words to sink in. Draco wasn’t an entity with superpowers any more, he was human, just like Harry.

He was mortal.

Harry wasn’t ready for the blinding fear to hit him. What if he hadn’t checked on Draco? Would he have kept lying in bed just waiting for it to pass? What if it had gotten worse?

What if Draco had died?

Harry pushed back his panic, now was not the time for it, and Draco asked in the quiet, “Harry?”

“Why did they send you here?” Harry cursed, that wasn’t what he’d wanted to ask but he couldn’t very well come out and say, _I’m worried about keeping you safe now_.

Draco fiddled with Harry’s shirt. “My father has an odd sense of humour and he wanted me to live as a mortal amongst the very people I once wished to kill.”

“Can you go back?” Harry brought his hand up to stroke Draco’s hair, lingering at the ends.

Draco pulled the blankets around the two of them tighter and snuggled up to Harry, “No. But this place isn’t so bad, I like where I work and the house is nice. And you’re not bad company.”

If Draco held on tighter than usual while sleeping that night, Harry didn’t call him on it. But he did know one thing for sure now: whatever this was, between the two of them wasn’t just an arrangement anymore. And Harry was scared to let himself see what it could be because the potential for disaster was looming over their heads.

(*)

It took Draco a week to get better. A week of Harry running from one place to another, he’d save the world then rush back to make Draco tea and watch TV with him. If the Avengers noticed his absence from the Towers they didn’t call him on it again but he knew it was just a matter of time.

The day Draco went back to work, Harry came home to find Pansy in his lab.

“Sirius, what’s the point of having protocols if you let them be overridden?” Harry grumbled, taking in Pansy’s glare.

“She threatened to fry my servers, Sir. It was merely self-preservation.” Harry had to chuckle at that, finally someone who could scare Sirius into doing what they wanted.

Harry smiled warmly at her, hoping he didn’t look he’d just come from visiting her brother. “Pansy! It’s good to see you. What brings you here?”

Harry had just taken a sip of his first coffee of the day when Pansy said, getting straight to the point, “You have been sleeping with my brother.”

One thing Harry admired and envied most about Ginny and Ron was that they never let their emotions get the best of them when dealing with difficult situations. No matter how panicked or surprised they might be when on a case, you could never tell. Perhaps it was part of being a spy. This was why Harry was sure they would have been extremely disappointed had they witnessed Harry spitting out his coffee on hearing what Pansy said.

“Oh fuck, Dobby clean this now!” Harry ordered, watching in dismay as his Potter Pad flickered once and then died, the screen covered in coffee. He looked up to see Pansy watching him was a small smirk, clearly enjoying the scene. That only served to fluster Harry more. “Wh-What – I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“Oh please, Harry,” Pansy sighed, one hand on Mjolnir’s handle, “lying doesn’t suit you. _Must_ we do this whole routine? I’m just here to talk to you about my brother.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, “I’m assuming you’ve known for quite some time, why the sudden urge to talk about Draco now?”

“I,” Pansy stopped, took a deep breath and started again, “Draco does not want to talk to me. I have tried many times but he refuses to even look at me, which is understandable. No less painful, but I get it.”

Harry waited for her to continue, wondering why Draco had never mentioned Pansy even once.

“I do keep an eye on him as much as I can from Asgard, and I saw how you helped him get back to health. I wanted to thank you in person.”

“You came down from Asgard to thank me?” Harry asked, shocked and a little suspicious.

“Yes, of course,” she stated, nodding a little, “and also to remind you that Draco is my little brother.” She finished with a sharp smile, her eyes devoid of their usual spark. “I once slew a dragon with this,” Pansy carried on, lifting Mjolnir and brushing non-existent dust from off its surface, “t’was a mighty battle, lasted almost three days. Draco was very pleased with the dragon scales I gifted him.”

Harry briefly debated the merits of calling his suit, it’s not like Pansy could _defeat_ him. It’s just, he didn’t much like the idea of being weaponless while taking to his _enemy with benefit’s_ Norse God sister.

He was about to say something along the lines of how Draco _loved_ the coffee machine Harry had snuck into the apartment when he heard Pansy say “Oops.” He looked up to see the hammer sailing across the lab to land right through the front mirror of his car. Within seconds Dobby was there, busy extinguishing the nonexistent fire in the remains of his favourite car.

With a flick of her wrist Pansy called Mjolnir back, using an old shirt of Harry’s that was lying around the lab to clean it off, “I’m sorry, it does that sometimes.”

“I’m sure it does,” Harry smiled sweetly, making Pansy stare at him till she too was sprayed by a fire extinguisher, this one in Kreacher’s hand, whom she hadn't noticed creeping up on her. He couldn’t help but pat Kreacher as he rolled past him, making the old robot creak.

Harry handed her another shirt, “I’m sorry, he does that sometimes.”

Pansy glared at him, covered in white foam, but Harry didn’t give her a chance to respond, “Are you done threatening me?”

“Not really, no, I had a whole routine planned,” she admitted, trying to get the foam out of her hair, “I can still give you a demonstration?”

Harry shook his head, “I get the idea, but I don’t think you need to worry. We’re just having fun; it’s a set up where we both get what we want. Your threats, while appreciated, aren’t really needed.”

“Are you sure?” Pansy asked, looking at him with a look in her eyes that said she knew something he didn’t. Harry _hated_ that look.

He nodded, itching to get back to work after a weeklong break, “Positive.”

“Well then, in that case I will take my leave.” Pansy stood, glaring at Kreacher who’d moved a little as she picked up Mjolnir. “Once again, thank you for looking after him. I hope that one day the person he chooses to settle down with will be as caring of him as you are, Harry.”

And she left, leaving Harry with a constricted feeling in his chest like someone had just placed a massive weight there. He worked in the lab but all day but all he could hear was _the person he chooses to settle down with_.

(*)

Harry didn’t mention Pansy’s visit to Draco, he saw no reason to. It was their relationship and their job to sort it out, besides it’s not like Draco had ever mentioned Pansy’s visits to him.

One thing that did change after Pansy’s visit was that Harry started to drop by the cafe more. The constricted feeling refused to go away and being near Draco was the only thing that made it stop; lessen enough that he could breathe easily. Harry wouldn’t ever admit it, but a part of him was scared that there was a countdown running on his time with Draco.  

“This is the third time you’ve dropped by this week,” Draco commented one afternoon, they were lying on the rug, soaking up the sun.

“So?” Harry asked defensively, one hand curled around his phone as he waited for Draco to make fun of him.

“Nothing,” Draco shrugged, his hair spread out around him on the rug, “it was just an observation.”

Harry nodded and went back to sending Ron links of funny cat videos. When Draco spoke up again, his voice was soft and eyes shy, “I like it.”

Harry’s breath froze as he looked into Draco’s eyes, the way they were gazing at him with something more than the just the _lust_ he was used to. He could feel the constriction loosening on his chest and the realisation building that maybe this was more than what they had started with, but Harry pushed it down, buried it somewhere deep inside. To spend time dwelling on those thoughts would only lead down a road Harry swore never to take.

He stood up in a rush, upsetting the plate of biscuits near his foot, but he didn’t care about that now. He had to leave before he did or said something that would pull them in deeper, “I have to go, there’s a meeting, Luna will kill me if I miss it.”

Harry didn’t miss the flash of disappointment that Draco tried to hide. “Sure, will you come by later?”

“Maybe,” Harry called over his shoulder as he almost ran out the door, needing to leave before he did something stupid.

Like declaring that maybe he felt more for Draco than just as an enemy with benefits.

Harry didn’t head back home; instead he went straight to his regular Saturday night haunt. He needed a distraction and this place was guaranteed to provide that. He spent the night and most of the next day drinking and dancing with strangers, looking for secluded corners and then stumbling towards his car with some people he’d just met.

He woke up the next day to a killer hangover and the papers proclaiming, “THE PLAYBOY IS BACK! HARRY POTTER STRIKES AGAIN!” with photos of Harry leaving the club without his shirt and two girls hanging off of him.

(*)

He couldn’t bring himself to go see Draco, though a part of him wanted to go and justify his actions. The thing was, there was nothing to justify, they’d never really made promises and Harry _didn’t_ want to make promises. _This_ , the parties and hooking up with new people every day was what he did.

Besides, now that he knew that Draco really wasn’t up to anything, Harry didn’t need to keep an eye on him anymore.

Luna always said Harry was a master at denial.

He was saved the trouble of second guessing his decisions by a surge in the attacks on the city: the combined forces of Dr. Riddle and the Lestranges wreaking havoc. The Avengers were working overtime, trying to fight gigantic snakes and electric traps placed all over the city. The traps were the worst, they didn’t let go till the person caught was writhing in agony, and once caught it took them all about half a day to recover from the effects. Half a day none of them could afford to lose as they’d taken to working in shifts now so that everyone had a chance to rest.

It was an attack to take over the city.

Just as Harry felt they were gaining the upper hand, the other side was joined by even more: Macnair, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott – all petty villains who now had the upper hand because they were working together. Dumbledore was calling in people from everywhere to help them save the city but everyday Harry could see another section of the city crumble and fall right into Riddle’s waiting hands. The only thing they were all relived about was the evacuation of civilians from the main areas which had been undertaken as soon as the attacks had started, keeping the number of casualties low.

He’d been engaged in a fight with Nott’s many headed robot when Sirius said, “Sir, Draco’s building has gone down in an attack.”

Harry almost panicked before he remembered that Draco’s area had been one of the first few places to be evacuated, Harry had insisted on it. He concentrated on destroying the foul beast when Sirius interrupted again, this time his words chilling Harry to the core, “Draco refused to leave, Sir, it seems he’s trapped underneath the rubble.”

Harry faltered, dropping through a few feet of air before he regained his senses and fired off two quick blasts towards the monster, not waiting to see it fall before he was flying towards Draco.

“How much time does he have?” Harry asked, zooming past the many fights raging across the city.

It took Sirius some time to reply, making Harry’s heart beat painfully against his chest as he moved the suit faster than he’d ever dared before, “About 3 minutes before the building collapses completely.”

 “ETA?” Harry asked, swerving to avoid hitting Ron as he shot arrow after arrow at Goyle.

“One minute fifteen seconds.”

Harry decided to concentrate on just getting there and not on the ticking counter on the top left corner of the helmet. Nothing was going to stop him from getting Draco out of that building on time. His breath hitched as he reached the building, or the half of it that was remaining.

“Sirius, what’s the best course of action?” He flew around where the entrance had been, hoping to find some kind of opening on the side.

Two painful seconds later Sirius replied his voice calm as ever, “To your left there should be a window which will lead you to the third floor, Draco is situated opposite that on the floor below.”

“Any alternatives?”

“None,” Sirius pulled up scans of the building in his visor, showing him the precarious balance between the fallen half and the pillars still supporting the other half. Thermal scans showed only one source of body heat, and Harry tried not to think too much on it, he needed to be focussed now, in control.

As the timer reached one minute thirty seconds Harry flew in through the window, careful not to fly too fast and upset the balance. The stairs were all gone and it took him a few precious seconds to manoeuvre under half-fallen floor before he could reach the second floor. The door to Draco’s house was crushed and Harry didn’t dare blast a hole through the wall like he wanted to. The timer reached fifty seconds as he checked the apartments next to Draco’s and finally found a caved-in wall leading to Draco’s bathroom.

At forty seconds Harry caught a glimpse of Draco half buried under the couch, the stats on his visor showed he was still breathing, leaving Harry to focus on getting him free. Five seconds later Sirius informed him, “Sir, the building has caught fire, it is contained to the lower levels for now but it’s rapidly spreading.”

Harry got Draco free as the timer reached twenty seconds, his limp body making Harry stop to check his stats again to reassure himself.

“Sirius?”

The AI’s calm voice made Harry relax, “You can’t go back up Sir, the fire’s spreading . . .”

Harry let him talk, already sure on what he had to do. He gathered Draco in his arms, shielding him as much as possible as he powered up the jets and angled towards the wall that led to the street.

At ten seconds Harry felt the heat around him, the floor catching fire as he powered up and flew towards the wall, praying this would work. Five seconds later they crashed through the wall, Harry half bent over Draco as the suit took the full impact.

He wasn’t able to right himself in time and they crash landed onto the street below, Harry rolling them at the last minute so that Draco wasn’t on the bottom. He felt the impact through the suit, gritting his teeth against the pain; now was not the time to get weak. He needed to get Draco somewhere safe.

Harry allowed his body to relax itself before he tried sitting up, moving Draco carefully. He could already see bruises forming on his arms from where Harry had gripped him, and there was a nasty gash on his head that was still bleeding. He stood, testing out the suit to check for any serious damage, and on finding none he took off for the Tower, the only safe place in the entire city right now.

He landed on the roof, making Sirius check to see if anyone was inside first. Harry could feel his joints ache in protest as he walked towards his floor, but he ignored it all. His only priority right now was getting Draco inside somewhere he could look him over to assess the damage. Harry gently placed Draco on the bed, wincing as he straightened and his shoulder was pulled. As he returned with the medical kit Sirius announced, “Ms. Pansy just landed on the roof, Sir. She is headed towards the room now.”

Harry nodded and set to work on cleaning Draco up, moving as carefully as he could. As far as he could tell Draco had a few bruised ribs, a sprained wrist, and that nasty cut on his head. The rest were all minor injuries that would heal in a few days.

“I can take care of him,” Pansy said from behind him, moving to stand next to the bed.

Harry shook his head and kept working, diligently cleaning out every cut and scrape. He felt Pansy’s hand on his shoulder, “You need to go back out there. They’ve taken down Macnair, Nott, Crabbe and Goyle. Molly and Ginny took care of the Lestragnes. But they’re tired, Harry, all of them.”

He wanted to be selfish and say he was tried too but he knew that wasn’t fair to them. He’d gotten a chance to sleep last night and even now he was already feeling better enough to go out and finish it off.

“Riddle was the one to target Draco’s building. He knew about Draco, Harry. He did it on purpose.”

Harry looked at Draco lying motionless on the bed, his body covered in bruises, pale as a sheet.

“Promise me you’ll guard him with your life.” Harry turned to Pansy, seeing for the first time how bruised and beaten she was, her arm bent at a weird angle.

Pansy took his place on the bed, “Always.”

He nodded and headed towards the roof, asking Sirius to ready the Mach 3.

Riddle was going to wish he’d never been born.  

(*)

The final battle was over before it started.

Later, Harry would regret how fast all of it happened, he wished he could have carried it on more, made Riddle suffer a little.

He had arrived at the scene within seconds of leaving the Tower, Sirius bringing him up to date with everything he’d missed. Ron and Hermione had Riddle cornered but even though he was alone Harry could see Riddle was putting up an equal fight, a maniacal grin on his face.

“Give up Riddle, you know it’s over,” Ron shouted from he was perched on a roof, firing arrows at the evil genius below.

Riddle just laughed and took at single shot at Ron from a small weapon, the green light rushing towards Ron, who barely managed to jump at the last minute as the wall exploded where the shot had hit. Harry saw Hermione run towards Ron, leaving him to focus on Riddle.

“Let me make this simple for you,” Harry growled, hovering a few feet above Riddle, “surrender and maybe you’ll survive. Keep fighting and you will _definitely not_ survive.”

Harry waited while Riddle ranted, checking up on Ron and asking Sirius to give him updates on Draco. When finally Riddle stopped, Harry asked, “So, you’re saying no right?”

Riddle’s roar of outrage his answer enough and Harry really wishes he could crack his knuckles, he was going to have so much fun now.

He let Riddle think he was gaining the upper hand by feinting a few times, convincing him that Harry was going down. When Harry finally got bored of playing around he signalled to Hermione, who had been circling around Riddle, and together they got the man down.

It took him five minutes and a few seconds to have Riddle pinned to the ground under a large piece of rubble with Hermione sitting on top of it. Harry escorted the man to prison, ignoring Ron and Hermione because they stopped him from crushing Riddle to pieces.

It was only after Dumbledore took over and hauled Riddle off for interrogation that Harry relaxed, feeling exhausted and ready to sleep for a week. He took off for the Tower, to check in on Draco and then fall asleep next to him.

______________*_______________

“. . . and they live happily ever after.” Draco finished with a yawn, his eyes drooping as he struggled to stay awake.

Harry sat up, “Wait, what? No, you can’t end it here! There’s so much left!” He shook Draco’s shoulder making him grumble and try to slide deeper under the covers.

“I’m tired! You finish it if you want!”

Harry sighed and curled an arm under Draco’s waist, pulling him closer, “Fine. So then . . . “

________________*________________

“How is he doing?” Harry asked Pansy as soon as he’d changed and checked up on Neville and the others. No one had been seriously hurt, but there were enough minor injuries to keep everyone in bed for the next few days. Even Neville looked exhausted as they fixed his broken leg.

Pansy looked up from her magazine. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, “Better, the swelling seems to have gone down. But I think that cut on his head should be checked.”

“I’ll ask Hermione,” Harry nodded, looking at Pansy, waiting for her to understand the implication of his words.

She stood up, smiling grimly at him, “I’ll come with you.”

Harry sighed, a weight lifted off his shoulders, if he wasn’t alone on Draco’s side then chances were that it would be easier to convince the others. They walked together to the medical bay, each lost in their own thoughts. It wasn’t difficult to find Hermione; she was being given wide berth by most people as was common so soon after the appearance of the green one.

“Are any of you seriously injured?” She asked as they approached, taping up a man’s wound.

Harry shook his head and looked at Pansy who refused, too, “We aren’t but someone else is. Could you come and look at him please?”

Hermione nodded distractedly, already moving onto another patient, “Is he serious or can it wait a while? We’re a little swamped here at the moment.” Harry saw her glance at Ron, who was sleeping on a bed not far from where they were standing.

“We don’t know,” Pansy moved to let Molly run past her, “but it’s a head injury so if you could check it once we would get an idea.”

Harry placed a hand on Hermione’s arm, “Please, Hermione.”

She looked at him, the same look on her face that she had when faced with an equation she wanted to solve; when she nodded and grabbed her bag Harry let out a sigh of relief.

When they reached the room, Harry turned to look at Pansy once, nodding at her before he opened the door, his heart falling when he saw Draco still sleeping on the bed. To her credit Hermione didn’t say anything, just went to the bed and started looking Draco over but her could see how tense her back was and how her hands trembled slightly as she cleaned up the wound. It was only after they were back outside, Pansy staying in the room with Draco, that Hermione rounded on Harry, “Tell me I’m mistaken and that’s not who I think it is.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Harry made sure they door was closed so that Draco wouldn’t be disturbed.

Hermione scoffed, throwing her bag on the ground and taking deep breaths, “Why not? You’ve done a good job of it so far.”

“I haven’t lied once; I just didn’t think you guys needed to know.”

“We didn’t need to know that a crazy psychopath was back in town?” Hermione asked incredulously.

Harry shook his head, “But you already knew that, Pansy had informed everyone. What you didn’t need to know was that I was keeping an eye on him.”

“And is this still a part of keeping an eye on him?”

“It hasn’t been for quite some time,” Harry answered truthfully, “but he’s not the same person he was before Hermione! I know that, I can vouch for him.”

“Oh please,” She rolled her eyes, “do you think he can change?”

Before he could answer, someone else spoke up: “I would think you would believe more than others that people can change Hermione.”

Harry turned to see Dumbledore walking towards them.

Hermione bristled at his words, “That’s different; Draco unleashed an entire army on our planet because he wanted to be king!”

“I’m sure you remember Pansy’s words, if Ron cannot be held responsible for his actions then neither can Draco. I imagine it must have been very traumatic to wake up one day and find yourself being punished for crimes you don’t remember doing because someone else had control of your mind.” Dumbledore explained, giving Harry hope that maybe it wasn’t just him and Pansy in Draco's corner.

“That being said,” Dumbledore turned to Harry, “it was wrong of you to keep this from us Harry, don’t make me regret making you a part of the team.”

Harry nodded and waited for Hermione to say something, trying to keep his rising exhaustion at bay.

“You say he’s been punished?” Hermione was looking at Dumbledore but Harry could tell the question was for both of them.

“Yes,” he answered, “he’s been punished more than enough but that’s all I’m going to say.”

“Well then, I think we’ve got work to do,” Dumbledore steered Hermione away with a hand on her back, “and Harry has to sleep. There’ll be a debriefing in the evening Harry, I’ll see you there.”

As they turned around the corner, Harry slumped against the wall, his hands trembling at his sides. It took him a while to get control of himself before he could go back inside and ask Pansy to go get herself checked up.

He locked the door behind her and climbed into bed, taking care to not move Draco; he tried to stay awake, to look at Draco as much as could before Draco woke up and left. But the exhaustion soon caught up with him and he fell asleep with his hand curled around Draco’s.

(*)

Harry groaned, shifting under the covers to get comfortable; every part of his body hurt, no matter how he tried to place his limbs. With a sigh of frustration he opened his eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the light before looking around, the events of the day coming back to him. He sat up with a start, looking around him to see where Draco was.

“He’s in the kitchen, Sir,” Sirius informed him before Harry could start panicking.

Harry decided to take a quick shower to look a little more presentable, his stomach in knots at the thought of facing Draco after a week.

Draco was sitting at the kitchen island, a bowl of cereal in front of him that he was ignoring in favour of reading a magazine. Harry gulped as he saw it was the same one that had an entire ten page spread, complete with pictures, on his night out. He saw Draco furrow his brow as he turned a page, Harry wanted to press his finger to that frown and smooth and it out. He wanted to apologise and he wanted to explain.

But what he ended up saying was, “I love you.”

Draco jumped at his voice, the magazine falling into his bowl, but he was too busy staring at Harry to notice. Harry wanted to bang his head against the wall because that wasn’t the way he’d planned he the conversation starting. When Draco started to say something, Harry cut him off, knowing he had to explain himself before things got worse.

“No, wait, please. Just, give me a minute to explain myself and then you can decide what you want to do.”

At Draco’s nod he took a deep breath and started, “I’m not the best when it comes to emotions or how to deal with them, you know that. Heck, _everyone_ knows that! So when I started realising that maybe, just maybe I’m feeling a lot more for you than I should within our arrangement, I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, all I could think of all day long was when I could see you, talk to you, _touch you_. It was driving me _crazy_. So I reacted the only way I know how, by acting stupidly and, oh my God, Draco! There’s nothing I regret as much as doing that,” he pointed at the soaked magazine, “and I don’t have enough words to apologise and now it’s hitting me that maybe you don’t even feel the same way about me and it’s all _so confusing_!” Harry slumped onto a chair, burying his face in his hands.

“Your one minute is up sir.” Sirius announced, his voice echoing through the kitchen.

Harry wanted to throw something at the AI, “Thank you, Sirius.”

He waited for Draco to say something, his heart sinking with every second till he felt a hand on his arm and looked up see Draco kneeling in front of him, the fond look on his face making Harry feel lighter than he had in days.

“What am I going to do with you?” Draco asked, shaking his head and smiling, “You’re such a pain some days that all I want to do is hit you on the head and make you stop irritating me. Or throw you out the window,” Draco sniggered as Harry rolled his eyes, “if that would work. Yes, you’re emotionally retarded but you keep forgetting _I’m_ the one who tried to take over a planet when I found out I was adopted.”

“Where does that leave us then?” Harry asked, trying not to dwell on the fact that Draco hadn’t said those words back to him.

Draco sighed and shook his head, the look on his face enough to make breathing difficult for Harry.

“The thing is,” Draco started, standing up and moving away from Harry, “when I saw your photo in the paper, I wanted to blow something up. But I can’t anymore, so I settled for tearing the rug up, though I regretted that one the next day when the sun came out. But the way I see it, we weren’t, what do you people call it?” Draco asked.

“Exclusive, Sir.” Sirius answered, helpful as ever.

“Thank you,” Draco nodded and in one smooth move made himself comfortable on Harry’s lap, “that’s the word, _exclusive_.  Which we weren’t, so technically you did nothing wrong, but I’m still really angry so I will make you pay for that.” Draco wound his arms around Harry’s neck and frowned; Harry really wanted to lean forward and kiss that frown away, “But leaving that entire problem aside for now, let’s examine the facts. You love me, as you so proclaimed just a few minutes ago, and,” Draco moved forward till their heads were touching and they were looking into each other’s eyes “I love you too. So . .”

Harry couldn’t let him keep talking after that, he pulled Draco closer and leaned forward to kiss the man he loved.

____________*____________

“Did they live happily ever after now?” Draco asked grumpily, his head burrowed in Harry’s neck.

Harry chuckled and rubbed Draco’s back, dull light slowly filtering in through the windows, “Why are you so tired?”

“Well,” Draco muttered, trying to glare at Harry but failing when his eyes refused to stay open, “ _someone_ woke me up early yesterday and then the twins kept me busy all day. I don’t understand why Pansy keeps leaving them with me, being their Uncle doesn’t make me their automatic nanny.”

“They love you though,” Harry smiled, “you’re their favourite and Pansy and Bill were tied up on that assignment.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Draco grumbled, but Harry could tell he was smiling, “lets everyone go save the world while Harry Draco babysit.”

Harry tried to sit up, he really was too awake to fall asleep again but Draco whined and pulled him down again, making Harry laugh, “But if you go to save the world, who’ll handle the bakery? Cakes are important too, you know.”

Draco managed a chuckle at that, “If only the bad guys knew the way to win over the Avengers was with a red velvet cake.”

“I don’t know about the bad guys, but it did help you win Ron over,” Harry reminded him. Ron really had proved to be the most difficult Avenger for Draco to win over, even after he’d stopped threatening Draco. At least, till the day Draco had started baking cakes for him every day in a bid to win over. It took a month and thirty cakes for Ron to accept defeat and hug Draco, proclaiming his red velvet the best he’d ever tasted.

“But he still hates me!” Draco whined, trying to pull the blanket over his head as the sunlight grew stronger.

Harry used the remote to make the blinds come down, “Well you could stop playing pranks on him, he does really hate that.”

 _“Fine_. I can try to control myself, but it’s so much fun!” Draco laughed, which soon turned into a yawn as he snuggled closer to Harry, “Sleep now, before those twin terrors wake up and I’m _ordered_ to come and play.”

“Actually,” Harry slid down under the covers with Draco, revelling the feel of boyfriend’s body next to his, “I have the day off and I made sure everyone knows that we aren’t leaving the room today.”

Draco sighed happily and moved till he was laying half on top of Harry, “In that case you should sleep and build up your strength now because you’re going to need it later.”

“Is that a promise?” Harry kissed Draco’s head, wrapping an arm around his waist.

Draco whispered against his neck, “It sure is. I love you.”

Harry smiled and held him tight, “As I love you.”

And they _finally_ lived happily ever after.

 

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